Is this reliever suddenly a go-to late-inning option for the Blue Jays?

Well, the short answer seems like a yes so far in his Ryan Borucki's brief return to the Toronto Blue Jays... sort of. His speciality in one area could be a huge addition for a bullpen that seemed like it was thinning out over the last few weeks.

When it comes to facing lefties, Borucki has been shutting them down at an incredible clip, making him a valuable late-inning option whenever the matchup calls for it. Although he has pitched to a staggering 4.96 ERA this season, between the Pirates and the Jays, not much of it has come off left-handed hitters.

Can Borucki be a guy the Blue Jays rely on in late-inning options.

Borucki was originally drafted by the Blue Jays back in 2012 with the 475th pick out of Illinois, but jumped around between Pittsburgh and Seattle before reuniting with the Jays on August 26th. His 2025 tenure with the Pirates was shaky, as he pitched to a 5.28 ERA, although he has a 3.86 ERA post-All-Star break.

During the most recent series against the Yankees, he found himself in a high-stakes situation late into the game, but he pitched out of it without much stress at all. Borucki uses his slider most frequently (41.3% of the time), as it is a weapon of a pitch for him, especially against lefties, where they are batting a mere .061 against it (127 pitches). That pitch has generated a 43.9% whiff rate against the lefties, which is an absurd amount of swing and miss for him, making it so dominant.

Borucki's secondary weapon against lefties is the sweeper, which he throws 25.4% of the time. This pitch, again, is a whiff machine, inducing swing and miss at a clip of 35% with a put-away rate of 15.6%. If he can get those righty numbers down a little, he can be a great option down the stretch, but unfortunately, he is abysmal against them. This year, he sports a 9.64 ERA against righties, whereas against lefties, it drops down to a 1.45. Righties are simply all over him, at all times.

That extreme split can be viewed as both his curse and his calling card. The Jays' management knows this, however, and Schneider has already shown an ability to deploy him in pockets of lineups where lefty bats loom. Against lefty-dominant teams, like the Yankees or Dodgers, Borucki could be the kind of weapon (depending on the situation) that flips an inning, or even a game deep into October.